JACKSON, MISS– That’s right. It’s only 100 days until Christmas. When you hear “Jingle Bells” you probably think about the weight on your wallet from holiday shopping.
The good news is, you can start saving and planning for the shopping season now.
“Go ahead and factor Christmas into your budget,” says Brent Walker with RiverTree Financial Planning, “Set a number for what you can spend, and start saving for that amount.” Walker says don’t touch that money until Christmas time, even if it means setting up another account or enrolling in your bank’s Christmas Club.
Sometimes though the problem isn’t saving money–it’s that there’s no money to save. So it becomes tempting to jump into that credit card offer in time for the holidays.
“The saddest day of the year,” says Walker, “falls on January 19th or 20th, when folks get their credit card bill from Christmas. Because then they don’t know what to do.”
Walker says using a pre-paid card and saving in advance is the best option to avoid overspending and messing up your credit. So start a piggy bank now for that shopping list.
